Right medicine in a complex world

Robotic and other equipment can be developed more rapidly – particularly for medical applications – thanks to new hardware and software

Pioneering use of hardware and software is driving the development of haptic force-feedback mechanisms, which could prove highly beneficial in medicine and robotics.

The means lies in rapid control prototyping using modular electronic control boards, which can turn Windows PCs into highly stable real-time controllers.

The know-how has emerged from a methodology to develop a range of engineering models that help to train engineers in the gentle arts of devising mechatronic control strategies.

This has lead on to the development of more sophisticated devices for robotic research and inevitably into real-world commercial products. Applications are as varied as training surgeons, using virtual reality techniques; improving stroke rehabilitation therapy; controlling fleets of miniature airship UAVs; and a system that allows authors to sign books in continents other than where they actually live.